Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
CA 02861190 2014-08-29
METHOD AND ANALYSIS SYSTEM FOR PROCESSING BIOLOGICAL
SAMPLES
Technical Field
The disclosure relates to an analysis system for processing biological
samples, a
method being implemented by the analysis system.
Background
The increasing complexity of analytical systems and corresponding laboratory
work-
flows calls for mechanisms which ensure a secure system operation to acquire
reliable
and accurate data. This is especially true if less trained personnel needs to
operate the
system in urgent cases (e.g. in the absence of experienced laboratory
personnel). Dif-
ferent user support or assistance methods, which provide guidance information
to facili-
tate system operations, are known.
Unites States patent 6868308 B2 discloses an operation guidance method of a
clinical
system which enables a doctor or nurse unskilled in testing to operate the
clinical sys-
tem without operation error by providing operation guidance.
Unites States patent 8151190 B2 discloses an analysis device allowing any
person to
utilize job guidance for setting and assignment operations with high
efficiency regard-
less of a level of skill in an automatic analysis device which has a
complicated screen
configuration with an increase of functions.
Summary
Various embodiments provide a method, and analysis system for processing
biological
samples as described by the subject matter of the independent claims.
Advantageous
embodiments are described in the dependent claims.
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CA 02861190 2014-08-29
The term "analysis system" as used herein encompasses any system of lab-
devices
which are operated and/or monitored collectively. Typically, but not
necessarily so, an
analysis system comprises one or more analyzers, but the term 'analysis
system' may
also refer to a system comprising one or more pre-analytical and/or post-
analytical de-
vices. For the sake of simplicity, said systems of lab-devices are herein also
referred to
as 'analysis systems'.
The term "in vitro diagnostic (IVD) task" as used herein encompasses a
laboratory pro-
cedure to be performed on one or more biological samples. The term further
encom-
passes any processing step to be executed by a user on the lab-device in order
to pre-
serve or restore the operability of the lab-device. Accordingly, executing a
task may
comprise executing an analytical workflow a pre-analytical or post-analytical
workflow
by a lab-device, e.g. an analyzer or a centrifuge. Executing a task can also
comprise
evaluating measurement values obtained on one or more samples by a user, e.g.
by
means of a GUI, or refilling an empty reagent container of a lab-device by
said user.
The term "biological sample" refers to any sample that is obtained from or
otherwise
derived from a biological entity such as an animal.
The term "graphical user interface element" or "user interface element" as
used herein
may be understood as a user interface object, or a set of user interface
objects,
displayed on a display screen of a device. A user interface element comprises
a button,
a text box, a tab, an icon, a text field, a pane, a check-box item, a menu
bar, a title bar,
an action bar or item group or the like. A user interface element can likewise
be an
image, a displayed alphanumeric character or any combination thereof.
The term "graphical user interface" or "user interface" as used herein refers
to an inter-
face generated by a program for display on a display screen of a device with
selectable
user interface elements.
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In one aspect, the invention relates to an analysis system for processing
biological
samples. The analysis system comprises an IVD device for performing an
analysis of a
biological sample.
The IVD device is coupled to a computer system, the computer system comprising
a
display device; a processor; and memory configured to store a plurality of
applications
that are executable on the processor. A first application of the plurality of
applications
comprises instructions that, when executed, generate on the display device a
first
graphical user interface. The first graphical user interface comprises a set
of user inter-
face elements, wherein each user interface element in the set of user
interface ele-
ments is positioned in a defined region within the first graphical user
interface. The first
application further comprises instructions that, when executed, control the
IVD device
to perform an IVD task. The IVD task comprises a sequence of IVD actions;
wherein an
IVD action is performed in response to user activation of the IVD action,
wherein the
user activation of the IVD action is performed using a corresponding user
interface el-
ement of the set of user interface elements. The memory further comprises
geometry
data describing a display position for each of the set of user interface
elements within
the first graphical user interface.
A second application comprises instructions that are executed independently of
the first
application. The two applications are executed independently in the sense that
they
don't exchange data directly during their executions.
The second application is configured to guide user input to the first
graphical user inter-
face for activating the IVD actions of the IVD task, the second application
being further
configured to: receive task data indicative of the sequence of IVD actions of
the IVD
task; select from the set of user interface elements a subset of user
interface elements
that are used to perform the sequence of IVD actions of the IVD task;
determine, using
the geometry data, a location of each of the subset of user interface elements
within
the first graphical user interface; determine based on the location of each of
the subset
of the user interface elements in the first graphical user interface a
corresponding dis-
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CA 02861190 2014-08-29
play position for displaying information in a second graphical user interface;
and display
in the corresponding display position of the second graphical user interface,
information
pertaining to user action to at least one user interface element of the first
graphical user
interface that activates at least one particular IVD action of the sequence of
IVD actions
of the IVD task.
According to one embodiment, the user action comprises a user input to the at
least
one user interface element.
According to another embodiment the user action comprises accepting a
notification
displayed in the second user interface.
According to one embodiment, upon receiving user inputs to activate the
sequence of
IVD actions, the IVD device is controlled to perform the IVD task using the
received us-
er inputs.
The separation between the guidance application (i.e. second application) and
the
guided software application (i.e. first application) in a manner that they do
not mutually
influence or affect each other may avoid that errors, wrong data or other
unforeseen
issues on the guidance application do not lead to a changed or possibly wrong
behav-
ior of the software application. This is in contrast to the conventional
methods in which
the guidance is an integrated part of the software application, and thus, any
change in
the guidance affects the software application. That is, a change in the
guidance of the
conventional methods requires a validation of the whole software application,
while in
the present method a change or update on the guidance application does not
require a
validation of the software application. This may save resources that may be
required
for the validation process.
In another advantage, these features may provide a flexible guidance that may
be au-
tomatically adapted to any IVD task that is supported by the software
application.
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According to one embodiment, the second application is further configured to
receive
user input to the second graphical user interface that causes the second
application to
display information pertaining to user action to the first graphical user
interface for a
previous IVD action or for a subsequent IVD action in the sequence of IVD
actions of
the IVD task, to cause the second application to display in the second
graphical user
interface additional or less information regarding user input to the first
graphical user
interface for the particular IVD action for which information is currently
displayed in the
second graphical user interface, and/or to call up or switch to a third
application that a
user can employ to determine an input to the user interface element for the
particular
IVD action for which information is currently displayed in the second
graphical user in-
terface. This embodiment may be advantageous as it may provide a close
guidance to
the user such that mistakes on data entry or initiation of incorrect actions
may be pre-
vented. This may avoid system failures due to wrong inputs and thus may allow
a con-
venient and efficient operation of the analysis system.
According to one embodiment, the second application generates a mask in the
second
graphical user interface that masks at least part of the first graphical user
interface of
the display device and prevents access to at least one interface element in
the first
graphical user interface.
According to one embodiment, the first graphical user interface spatially
coincides with
the second graphical user interface.
According to one embodiment, the mask generated by the second application in
the
second graphical user interface prevents access to all interface elements in
the first
graphical user interface except for at least one interface element in the
first graphical
user interface that corresponds to the particular IVD action for which the
information is
currently displayed in the second graphical user interface, thereby allowing a
user to
interact only with the interface element in the first graphical user interface
that relates
the particular IVD action to the information is currently displayed in the
second graph-
ical user interface.
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These embodiments may be advantageous as they may provide a secure mechanism
for guidance by preventing erroneous data input to the first application,
which may then
save resources that would otherwise be required for debugging or reprocessing
pur-
pose.
According to one embodiment, the mask generated by the second application in
the
second graphical user interface is at least partially transparent or
semitransparent,
thereby permitting a user to continue viewing at least one of the interface
elements in
the first graphical user interface for which access is prevented. Having an
overview on
the user elements that are needed to perform the IVD task may further prevent
errone-
ous inputs, as the relations (e.g. visual relation) between the user interface
elements
may help inputting the right data into the right user interface element.
According to one embodiment, the second application generates an indication
(for ex-
ample, a visual, an audio and/or a tactile indication) and/or displays
information in the
second graphical user interface when a user attempts to interact with an
interface ele-
ment in the first graphical user interface for which access is prevented by
the mask
generated by the second application. This may prevent multiple interaction
attempts
with a user interface element for which access is prevented, and thus may
reduce the
running time of software applications that may be longer when trying multiple
attempts.
According to one embodiment, the first application is further adapted to store
the ge-
ometry data of the subset of user interface elements in a non-volatile memory
space of
the memory, wherein the second application is further adapted to monitor the
memory
content for determining a change in the geometry data, store updated geometry
data of
the subset of user elements in the non-volatile memory space, and move into a
volatile
memory of the memory the updated geometry data of the subset of user elements,
wherein the determining of the location and the determining of the
corresponding dis-
play position for displaying information in a second graphical user interface
are per-
formed using the updated geometry data.
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According to one embodiment, the second application is further adapted to
store ge-
ometry data of the subset of user elements in a non-volatile memory space of
the
memory, wherein the second application is further adapted for repeatedly
receiving an
update status message regarding the geometry data, wherein in case the update
status
message is indicative of a change in the geometry data, the second application
is fur-
ther adapted to read the memory for determining updated geometry data of the
subset
of user elements and store the updated geometry data in a non-volatile memory
space
of the memory, and move in a volatile memory space of the memory said geometry
da-
ta of the subset of user elements, wherein the determining of the location and
the de-
termining of the corresponding display position for displaying information in
the second
graphical user interface are performed using the updated geometry.
These embodiments may be advantageous as they may save resources required for
storing outdated or non-updated geometry data. Storing the non-updated
geometry da-
ta in the volatile memory may be advantageous as they may still be used e.g.
for cross
checking purpose, while they are still stored in the volatile memory.
According to one embodiment, the first application is further adapted to store
the ge-
ometry data of the subset of user interface elements in the memory, wherein
the sec-
ond application is further adapted to monitor the memory content for
determining a
change in the geometry data or to repeatedly receive an update status message
re-
garding the geometry data, wherein in case the update status message is
indicative of
a change in the geometry data, the second application is further adapted to
read the
memory for determining updated geometry data of the subset of user elements,
wherein the determining of the location and the determining of the
corresponding dis-
play position for displaying information in the second graphical user
interface are per-
formed using updated geometry data.
According to one embodiment, the memory further comprises an operating system,
wherein the operating system comprises a window manager, wherein the window
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CA 02861190 2014-08-29
manager is providing the geometry data, wherein the determining of the
location and
the determining of the corresponding display position for displaying
information in the
second graphical user interface are performed using the geometry data obtained
from
the window manager.
According to one embodiment, the generation of the user interface further
comprises
generating a user interface element in the first graphical user interface that
can be se-
lected by a user to start execution of the second application.
According to one embodiment, the generated user interface element comprises a
menu
bar listing one or more user interface elements, wherein the second
application is con-
figured to guide user input to the first graphical user interface for
activating the IVD ac-
tions of the IVD task upon selecting a user interface element of the one or
more user
interface elements.
The generated user interface element further comprises a button, a tab, an
icon, a
pane, a check-box item, an action bar or item group or the like.
According to one embodiment, the second application is executed automatically
upon
executing at least a part of the first application. This may be advantageous
for applica-
tions running single IVD tasks, and not requiring user inputs to select a
particular IVD
task.
According to one embodiment, the computer system comprises a touch screen com-
puter and wherein the display device is a touch sensitive display screen. This
is in con-
trast to tooltips that may not be deployed for touchscreens since there is no
pointer.
This may be advantageous as the present method may be seamlessly integrated
into
existing computer systems.
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According to one embodiment, the second application is further configured to
guide da-
ta input to a third graphical user interface for performing a second IVD task,
wherein
the third graphical user interface is generated by a third application of the
plurality of
applications stored in the memory. This may be advantageous as it may increase
the
efficiency of the analysis system since a single guidance application may be
used for
guiding the user through multiple IVD tasks from multiple applications, such
as multiple
applications running on one or more analytical systems.
For example, the third application may be started (e.g. from another analyzer)
during
the guidance of the first application. Alternatively, the third application
and the second
application may be running in parallel in order to conduct a procedure (which
is a com-
bination of the two IVD tasks to be performed by the second and third
application)
where more than only one analyzer is required.
According to one embodiment, the third graphical interface is displayed in a
separate
user interface window or on a second display device.
In another aspect, the invention relates to a method for guiding user input to
a control-
ler of an analysis system, the analysis system comprising an in vitro
diagnostic, IVD,
device for performing an analysis of a biological sample, the IVD device being
coupled
to the controller, the controller comprising a display device; a processor;
and memory
configured to store a plurality of applications that are executable on the
processor,
wherein a first application of the plurality of applications comprises
instructions that,
when executed, generate on the display device a first graphical user
interface, the first
graphical user interface comprising a set of user interface elements, wherein
each user
interface element in the set of user interface elements is positioned in a
defined region
within the first graphical user interface; the first application further
comprising instruc-
tions that, when executed, control the IVD device to perform an IVD task;
wherein the
IVD task comprises a sequence of IVD actions; wherein an IVD action is
performed in
response to user activation of the IVD action, wherein the user activation of
the IVD ac-
tion is performed using a corresponding user interface element of the set of
user inter-
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face elements; and, wherein the memory further comprises geometry data
describing a
display position for each of the set of user interface elements; the method
comprising:
receiving task data for an IVD task that is indicative of the sequence of IVD
ac-
tions of the IVD task;
selecting from the set of user interface elements a subset of user interface
ele-
ments that are used to perform the sequence of IVD actions of the IVD task;
determining, using the geometry data, a location of each of the subset of user
interface elements within the first graphical user interface;
determining based on the location of each of each of the user interface
elements
of the subset of the user interface elements a corresponding display position
for dis-
playing information in a second graphical user interface using the location;
and,
displaying in the corresponding display position of the second graphical user
in-
terface, information pertaining to user action to at least one user interface
element of
the first graphical user interface that activates at least one particular IVD
action of the
sequence of IVD actions of the IVD task.
In another aspect, the invention relates to a computer program product
comprising
computer executable instructions to perform the method steps of the method of
the
preceding embodiments.
It is understood that one or more of the aforementioned embodiments may be com-
bined as long as the combined embodiments are not mutually exclusive.
Brief description of the drawings
In the following embodiments of the invention are explained in greater detail,
by way of
example only, making reference to the drawings in which:
Figure 1 depicts exemplary analysis system for processing biological
samples,
Figure 2 is a flowchart of a method for guiding user input to a
controller,
CA 02861190 2014-08-29
=
Figure 3 illustrates a method for further defining step 207 of Figure
2,
Figure 4 shows an exemplary structure of a pop-up window,
Figure 5 shows a flowchart further defining step 205 of Figure 2, and
Figure 6 shows analysis steps for checking external bottles of an
analysis system.
Detailed description
In the following, like numbered elements in these figures are either similar
elements or
perform an equivalent function. Elements which have been discussed previously
will
not necessarily be discussed in later figures if the function is equivalent.
Fig. 1 depicts exemplary analysis system 100 for processing biological
samples. The
analysis system 100 provides a controller that comprises a computer system
101. The
components of computer system 101 may include, but are not limited to, one or
more
processors or processing units 103, a storage system 111, a memory system 105,
and
a bus 110 that couples various system components including memory system 105
to
processor 103. Memory system 105 may include computer system readable media in
the form of volatile memory 117, such as random access memory (RAM) and/or
cache
memory as well as a non-volatile memory 118.
Computer system 101 may also communicate with one or more external devices
such
as a keyboard, a pointing device, a display 113, etc.; one or more devices
that enable a
user to interact with computer system 101; and/or any devices (e.g., network
card, mo-
dem, etc.) that enable computer system 101 to communicate with one or more
other
computing devices. Such communication can occur via I/O interface(s) 119.
Still yet,
computer system 101 can communicate with one or more networks such as a local
ar-
ea network (LAN), a general wide area network (WAN), and/or a public network
(e.g.,
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CA 02861190 2014-08-29
the Internet) via network adapter 109. As depicted, network adapter 109
communicates
with the other components of computer system 101 via bus 115. The computer
system
101 may be for example a touch screen computer and the display 113 device may
be a
touch sensitive display screen.
The computer system 101 may act as a controller connected to an IVD device 107
of
the analysis system 100 for performing an analysis of a biological sample. The
IVD de-
vice 107 is adapted to perform one or more IVD tasks. An IVD task comprises a
se-
quence of IVD actions. An IVD task may be for example a sample order task
and/or a
maintenance action task. A maintenance action task is shown in detail with t
reference
to Fig. 6. Each IVD task of the one or more IVD tasks may be associated with a
script
133 that is stored in the storage system 111. The script 133 comprises a list
of instruc-
tions to guide a user to activate a respective list of IVD actions of the IVD
task. The
script 133 may be identified by a script ID. The list of IVD tasks and
associated scripts
ID are stored in table 135 in the memory system 105.
A simplified structure of the script 133 is shown in Fig. 1. The script 133
contains multi-
ple fields and records or rows. For example, every record of the script 133
may be as-
sociated with a respective IVD action of the IVD task. Field 133.1 of the
script 133 con-
tains an incremented action ID of a given IVD action of the IVD task. Field
133.2 com-
prises names of user interface elements that are used to activate the given
IVD action.
Field 133.3 of the script 133 contains a text message indicative of the given
IVD action.
Feld 133.4 contains an instruction to be executed for activating the given IVD
action
using the user interface elements named in field 133.2.
Memory system 105 is configured to store a plurality of applications that are
executable
on the processor 103. For example, the memory system 105 may comprise an
operat-
ing system 137 as well as software applications 126. The operating system 137
com-
prises a window manager 139. The window manager 139 controls the placement and
appearance of windows within a windowing system in a graphical user interface.
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A first application 127 of the software applications 126 comprises
instructions that,
when executed, generate on the display device 113 a first user interface 121.
For ex-
ample, the first application 127 may be first started by a selection action of
a user. After
being started, the first application 127 may send a request to window manager
139 to
start a window and provide the first user interface 121 to the running
instance of the
first application 127.
For sake of simplicity, the first user interface 121 is shown as comprising a
set of 9 us-
er interface elements A-I. However, persons of ordinary skill in the art
having benefit of
the present disclosure should appreciate that the first user interface 121 may
contain
higher or smaller number of user interface elements. Each user interface
element in
the set of user interface elements A-I is positioned in a defined region
within the first
user interface 127.
The user interface elements A-I may be positioned relative to the first user
interface
127. The first user interface 127 contains the reference point. For example,
the refer-
ence point may be either the top/left or bottom/right corner of the first user
interface
127. The position of a user interface element may be described by a pair of X
and Y
values, each ranging from 0.0 to 1Ø These values represent, respectively,
relative hor-
izontal and vertical positions within the first user interface 127, with
{X:0.0, Y:0.0} as
the top left and {X:1.0, Y:1.0} as the bottom right. In addition, an element
dimension de-
fining the size property of the view of a user interface element may be
specified using
the width and height of the user interface element. As shown in Fig. 1, the
position of
the user interface element G may be described, for example, by the pair {XG,
YG}. Fur-
ther, the view size of the user interface element G may be described by the
height HG
and the width WG. In addition, the first user interface 127 may be positioned
relative to
the display device's top/left corner. However, persons of ordinary skill in
the art having
benefit of the present disclosure should appreciate that other positioning
methods may
alternatively be used.
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Geometry data describing the positions, appearance and size of the user
interface el-
ements A-I as well as the first user interface 121 may be determined by the
first appli-
cation 127 and communicated to window manager 139. The following snapshot code
shows an example code describing positions, appearance and size of the user
inter-
face elements A-I as well as the first user interface 121. The geometry data
may be ob-
tained, for example, by parsing the code and reading the position values as
defined in
the snapshot code.
'-:<Window x:Class="MainWindow"
xmlnsm"http://schewas.microsoft.com/winfx/2006/xaml/presentation"
xm1ns:x="http://schemas.microsolt.com/wrinfx/20,06/xaml"
Titlem"Storyboard Updater" Heightm"738" Width-"739" Namem"fratiain"
- (Grid>
<Grid.ColumnDefinitions)
<ColumnDefinition Width="139" I>
<colurnDeinition 4dth="57$*" />
</Grld.Coiurnt,efinitions>
<TabControl !iaJem"TabCOntroll"
Grid.ColumnSpanm"2")
<TabItem Header="Routine"
<Grid>
<Grid,ColumnOefinitioiis)
ccolumnDefiniticn -idt,Im"104"
/)
</Grid.CclumiDefiniticdv;)
<ListBox
Namer"Istcuments" Selertingode="Extended"
<Label Corite9t,m"Cipen 011 ticcuments ti; tic updated" Fonitsize."16"
Heistit."39"
<Button Content="Open f,elected docurents" teight="42" HorizontalAiigntnt="
(Button Contentm"Update ListS" Mori7:n!n17,1iEarenteRight" Marrinm"0,0,1211
<Label Content="Status Label" Margin="183,0,43,54" Naile="1b1Status" Height=
<TextBox Margine.0,37,6,95" hameetxtPics" HorizontaLAlisnmcr="Right" Widt
<Label Content="Docurnts" Height=-31" WorizontalAlt="Left" -arLln="9
<Label Content="Images" Height="Bl" Horizontalf.lignent="Right" Mar
-"e
Button Contentil-Start update" FontFamilygeSegoe Ur Meigitm'42" Morizo3ta1.
<Button Content="Open Project" Height-42 " Hori:ontalAlignmentw"Left" Margi
</Grid>
</TabItem>
Alternatively, window manager 139 may be responsible for determining the
appear-
ance, size and screen position of the user interface elements A-I and the
first user in-
terface 121. In this case, the geometry data may be obtained, for example,
from the
window manager 139 using a process ID of the running instance of the first
application
127. The process ID may be obtained for example using the name of the first
applica-
tion 127 as shown in the following screenshot of a terminal listing running
processes on
a Unix operating system. The first column lists the process IDs or running
processes.
14
CA 02861190 2014-08-29
11H -ill HIJ [, 1 ' E t A
11 1 I Eli F. '
r
ns
It JI,.
1 1I I
1 if] ij I 1j ft '
111 1 T 1
After being determined, the geometry data may be stored in the storage system
111.
The software applications 126 further comprise a second application 129. The
second
application 128 comprises instructions that, when executed, generate on the
display
device 113 a second user interface 123. For example, the second application
123 may
be started after selecting a user interface element 125 of the first user
interface 121.
The user interface element 125 may be for example a help menu bar or a context
menu bar, wherein the menu bar lists the one or more IVD tasks. The second
user in-
terface 123 may be used to guide the user of the system 100 to enter data to
the first
user interface 121 to perform an IVD task that is selected when selecting the
user inter-
face element 125.
The operation of the analysis system 100 will be described in details with
reference to
Fig. 2-Fig. 5.
Fig. 2 is a flowchart of a method for guiding user input to a controller of
the analysis
system 100. The controller may be the computer system 101. In step 200, the
first ap-
plication 127 is started by a user of the analysis system 100, and the first
user interface
121 is generated.
CA 02861190 2014-08-29
In step 201, the second application 129 may receive task data for an IVD task.
The
task data may be received upon initiation of the IVD task e.g. by the user.
This initiation
may be done, for example, by selecting a user interface element 125 of the
first user
interface 121 that is associated with the IVD task. The selection of the user
interface
element 125 also triggers the generation of the second user interface 123. The
first and
second user interfaces 121 and 123 may be displayed on the display device 113
such
that the second user interface 123 is on top of the first user interface 121
and covers at
least part of the first user interface 21.
In step 203, the second application 129 may read the table 135 to determine
the script
ID associated with the IVD task and load a script associated with the script
ID from the
storage system 111. Further, the second application may read the field 133.2
of the
loaded script for determining a subset of user interface elements of the set
of user in-
terface elements A-I to be used to perform the IVD task. For simplicity of the
descrip-
tion, the IVD task may comprise a sequence of three IVD actions and the subset
of us-
er elements may comprise the user interface elements A, F and G. For example,
the
user interface elements A, F and G may be associated with the first, second
and third
IVD action of the sequence of actions respectively. That is, the user may be
sequential-
ly guided to provide inputs into A, F and G in order to activate the first,
second and third
actions respectively.
Starting from the first user interface element A, the second application 129
may read in
step 205, the geometry data e.g. the pair of (XA, YA ) and (FIA,WA) values of
the user
interface element A stored in the storage system 111 to determine the location
of the
user interface element A within the first user interface 121.
In step 207, the second application 129 may determine based on the location of
the
user interface element A a corresponding display position 221 for displaying
infor-
mation in the second graphical user interface 123 using the location.
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In step 209, the second application may display in a pop-up window 225,
information
pertaining to user input to the user interface element A that activates the
first IVD ac-
tion of the sequence of IVD actions of the !VD task. The pop-up window 225 may
over-
lay at least a portion of the second user interface 123. The structure of the
displayed
information in the pop-up window 225 is described in details with reference to
Fig. 5.
Upon activation of the first IVD action, the second application 129 may repeat
steps
205-209 for each of the remaining user interface elements F and G. For
example, in
the second iteration for the user element F, the pop-up window may be
positioned at
the new defined display position 227.
After receiving user inputs to activate the three IVD actions, the IVD device
107 may be
controlled to perform the IVD task using the received user inputs.
Fig. 3 illustrates a method for positioning the second and first user
interfaces for further
defining step 207 of Fig. 2. In this example, the second user interface 123 is
positioned
on top of the first user interface 121 such that it prevents access to the
user interface
elements B-I, and only allows access to the user interface element A.
That is, user interface element A may be active in contrast to the user
interface ele-
ments B-I and the user may only enter input data into the user interface
element A that
is in the background of the second user interface 123 (e.g. the operating
system 137
may provide a function that may allow the user to enter data into a background
user
interface that is overlaid by another base station). The second user interface
123 may
display a mask that is at least partially transparent or semitransparent, such
that the
user may continue viewing the user interface elements B-I in the first user
interface 121
for which access is prevented. In an alternative example, the mask may hide
the user
interface elements B-I for which access is prevented. I another alternative
example, the
mask may hide the user interface elements B-E and H-I which are not used to
perform
the IVD task, and may be transparent for viewing the user interface elements F
and G.
This may prevent wrong user inputs to the user interface element A as the user
may
have an overview of all user interface elements A, F and G used for the IVD
task.
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,
Fig. 4 shows an exemplary structure of the pop-up window 225. The pop-up
window
225 may include content that may guide the user to enter data into the first
user inter-
face 121 without having to navigate away from first and second user interface
121 and
123. The pop-up window 225 comprises a field 402 for displaying information
pertain-
ing to user input to the first user interface 121 for a previous IVD action or
for a subse-
quent IVD action in the sequence of IVD actions of the IVD task. The content
of the
field 402 may be obtained by reading the message in the field 133.3 of the
script 133
and copying the read message to the field 402. The pop-up window 225 further
corn-
prises a continue icon 403 that is when selected a following or a previous
action of the
sequence of actions is to be performed. The continue icon 403 is displayed
based on
the information read by the second application 129 in the field 133.4 of the
script 133
associated with the IVD task. The pop-up window may further comprise a cancel
icon
405 for canceling an IVD action.
Fig. 5 shows a flowchart further defining step 205 of Fig. 2. In step 501 the
second ap-
plication 129 monitors the memory content for determining a change in the
geometry
data. For example, the change may be due to a resizing of the first user
interface 121.
The monitoring may be done on a periodic basis. In an alternative example, the
second
application 129 may repeatedly receive a status message regarding the geometry
data.
The update status message is indicative of the change in the geometry data. In
step
503, the second application stores the updated data in the non-volatile memory
118 of
the memory system 105, and moves the non-updated geometry into the volatile
memory 117. This is because, the non-updated data may not be longer required
by the
second application 129. The location is then determined in step 205 using the
updated
geometry data.
Fig. 6 shows analysis steps for checking external reagent bottles of an
analysis system
measuring serum and urine samples. The external bottles comprise a water
bottle, a
cleaner bottle and a waste bottle. A user interface 601 generated by a
software appli-
cation such as the first application 127 is shown. The user interface 601
comprises a
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=
help menu bar element 602 that may be selected by a user of the analysis
system to
list the tasks that may be performed by the analysis system. The list of tasks
is dis-
played on the user interface 605 after selecting the menu bar element 602. The
user
may select the user interface element 607that is associated with the task of
changing
the bottle. A second user interface 609 is then displayed on top of the user
interface
605. The user interface 605 shows the user interface elements 611, 613 and 615
that
are used to perform the task. In the second user interface 609 the pop-up
windows
616, 617, 619, 621 and 623 may be displayed in the second user interface 607
to guide
the user to enter user input to perform the task. The pop-up windows 617, 619
and 621
are displayed in accordance with the user interface elements 611, 613 and 615
respec-
tively.
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List of reference numerals
100 analysis system
101 computer system
103 processor
105 memory system
107 IVD device
109 network adapter
111 storage device
113 display device
117 volatile memory
118 non-volatile memory
119 I/O user interface
121-123 graphical user interface
A-I, 125 user interface element
126 applications software
127-129 applications
133 script
133.1-4 fields
135 table
137 operating system
139 window manager
221, 227 display position
225, 616-623 pop-up window
402-405 fields
601, 603, 605, 609 user interface
602, 611-615 user interface element.
